Oscar caliber talent unite for ‘The Post’

In Hollywood, it is seemingly never too early to start thinking about the Academy Awards again, and a new project called “The Post” appears almost destined for awards glory. Oscar winners, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep have signed on to appear in a new Steven Spielberg-directed film called “The Post”. Spielberg is also an Oscar winner, and with his talent merged with Hollywood darlings like Hanks and Streep, it seems almost impossible for “The Post” not to emerge as an Oscar contender.

Film to be based on the famous Pentagon Papers incident

As if the talent was not enough, “The Post" is set to be based on a weighty and somewhat timely subject matter which just further helps it to earn Oscar cred. The film is set to tell the real life story of the ordeal, The Washington Post went through in order to publish the Pentagon Papers in 1971, which at that time were classified. Hanks is set to play the Washington Post’s editor Ben Bradlee and Streep with play the paper’s publisher Katharine Graham.

Hanks and Spielberg together again

“The Post” will hardly be the first time the Oscar-winning talents of Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg will be joining forces.

The awarding winning dream team have worked together five times in the past on different project. Hanks has starred in various Spielberg films including “Bridge of Spies”, “The Terminal”, “Catch Me if You Can”, and the Oscar-winning "Saving Private Ryan." Likewise, this is not the first time Meryl Streep has worked with Spielberg either. She has never actually appeared in a Spielberg film before, but she did provide the voice for one of the characters in the Spielberg-directed "A.I." Additionally, she narrated the Netflix documentary “Five Came Back,” which was executively produced by Spielberg.

Timely subject matter

The story of “The Post” relates to the Pentagon Papers and concentrated on the role of the press in politics, which could not be more timely.

The Pentagon Papers was a prime example of how it is the press’s job to keep the government of the United States honest. The actual Pentagon Papers dealt with a Defense Department study showing a large increase in bombing during the Vietnam War. Such a story like “The Post” could not be more relevant in the age of President Trump, when issues like what exactly the role of the press should be and what constitutes real and fake news are at the forefront of national discussions.